Let Me Count the Words
by SilkenNightmare
Summary: How do I love thee? Let me count the...words? A drabble fic (essentially) detailing a few days in the life of King Sora, with a little war to spice things up. Contains shonen ai (RikuSora). Finished, and fully.
1. 113

AN: Okay, this started at one too long drabble. Then it became a long drabble story. The average chapter length is about 125 words and it was written at 2 in th morning. Set about 5 years after the game. Warning for shonen-ai and one original character (who does not get it on with anyone). Also, at anytime I may decided to take this down and totally revise it.   
  
Disclaimer: One of these characters is mine, but he's not worth anything. The rest belong to Disney. What a surprise.  
  


"How do I love thee?"-Elizabeth Barrett Browning   
  
Let me count the words  
  


"I love you."  
  
"Whaaat?"  
  
"I love you."  
  
"That's not funny."  
  
"No. Its not." Riku leaned forward, the hand not holding his keyblade rising to gently brush against Sora's cheek. "It wasn't meant to be."  
  
"But… I mean, what about Kairi?" Sora backed up a step, making Riku reach farther to touch him.  
  
He shrugged. "I love you. It doesn't have much to do with Kairi."  
  
"But…Her. You. Me!"  
  
Another shrug. "We don't have to do everything together. You know that."  
  
"But, I mean, she's sort of my girlfriend, y'know?"  
  
"Does that matter?"  
  
"YES!"  
  
The hand dropped, index finger just grazing Sora's lower lip. "I was just telling you." He turned and walked away. 


	2. 86

Disclaimer: Don't own them.  
  


Let me count the words  
  


"I-I don't love you, Sora. Not like a boyfriend."  
  
He couldn't understand why she was crying. "Oh."  
  
"I'm sorry, I really am, I thought, I thought that I'd grow into loving you."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Please, can we still be friends?"  
  
He nodded dumbly. Not quite understanding what he was agreeing to. "This isn't a joke, either, is it?"  
  
"What? No! Of course not."  
  
"Oh." A pause. "You don't love Riku do you?" It was just what the soap opera of his life needed.  
  
"No! God, no!"  
  
"…okay."  



	3. 113

Disclaimer: Don't own them.  
  


Let me count the words  
  


He kept his appointment with Sephiroth and Cloud, though really he thought he was due some time off for severe mental distress.  
  
When they arrived early he was worried.  
  
He stared at them with wary blue eyes, "Neither of you are here to say you love me, right?"  
  
Cloud gaped.  
  
Sephiroth looked impatient. "No."  
  
"Or that you love each other and are leaving the country to elope?"  
  
"That's really none of your business."  
  
"O-kay. What's up?"  
  
Cloud managed to regroup, "Hostile troop movements along the northern border. It looks like they're preparing to attack."  
  
Sephiroth stared coldly at his young king, "And I can assure you that they do not love you either." 


	4. 123

Disclaimer: Cain-o is mine, the rest are not.  
  


Let me count the words  
  


It was funny how he managed to find just the wrong time and just the wrong hall. There were any number of ways he could have taken, faster ways even. But no, he had to take this way.  
  
And see them.  
  
They were chaste, at least. The kiss lasted only seconds. But it was still the first time he saw Kairi kiss someone that wasn't him.  
  
At that moment he didn't love her or Tidus very much.  
  
Cain had also picked the precisely wrong time to come down the hall. The young guard looked as shattered as Sora should have felt.  
  
But all the young king could think of was that he should have known this one wasn't going to come in threes.  



	5. 116

Disclaimer: Cain is mine, the rest are not.  
  


Let me count the words  
  


He dispatched the army to take care of the impending attack. With their magic it would take next to no time for them to get there and reinforce the border patrol. Still it was a wonderful excuse to get rid of Riku for a little while.  
  
Just enough time for him to get moderately drunk with poor young Cain.  
  
The boy was about in tears.  
  
"Well, it could be just a fling?" Sora said, though not with much feeling.  
  
The guard leaned against his shoulder, looking despondent.  
  
"Ah, look, you don't love me or anything, do you?" Paranoia, thy name is Sora.  
  
The teen sniffed and looked up at him, "Do you want me to, sir?" 


	6. 130

AN: Okay, after this it gets sorta dark. I could write a light version, but the one that's done is not. Review and tell me if you want me to post it, just let the terrible story end here and now, or write a some fluffy finishing chapters. Choose your own adventure, yea. Disclaimer: And again, they are n't mine.  
  


Let me count the words  
  


Donald spent hours screaming at Goofy and they needed to be given not only separate rooms, but separate floors.  
  
The head chef handed in his resignation so he could join the theatre, leaving the kitchen staff directionless and distraught.  
  
Selphie and Wakka, having apparently heard Kairi's admissions of love/non-love long before Sora himself, dropped by to try and cheer him up and caught him as he tried to flee to his bedroom.  
  
"She wasn't really your type anyway, you can do better." Selphie wrapped an arm around his waist, being too short to reach his shoulders.  
  
"Yeah, man, you're better off single. No nagging!" Wakka grinned.  
  
He peeled himself away with some excuse about inspecting the guards.  
  
Selphie slapped him on the ass. "We'll always love you, Sora."  
  
He ran.  
  
AN: In case any of you were worried I was implying that Donald and Goofy were a couple by having them share a room, don't worry, they aren't... At least I don't think they are. If you think they are, and that doesn't squick you, cool. 


	7. 95

AN: Thanks for reveiws. Okay, for Cami: The chapters are short because it was supposed to be a drabble fic. A drabble is a bit of writing that is 100 words or less, I go over the 100 mark most of the time, but the intent is there As for Cain, he's not anyone's boyfriend. He just has a massive crush on Kairi (and a tiny one on both Sora and Sephiroth) he's used to Sora and Kairi being a couple, but when she dumps Sora to pair up with Tidus, Cain gets jealous and sad.

Disclaimer: I wish I owned them, but I dooon't.

**Let me count the words**

**  
**

A scout came to his personal chambers to report their casualties.  
  
Sora stared, listening intently and with ever increasing horror, watching the boy bleed on the floor, words of death pouring from his mouth.  
  
He only heard half of it, before sending the messenger off to be bandaged up. There was a red puddle on the flagstones.  
  
He sat in the dark of his room and made decisions. If he did it, there would be no prisoners taken, no learning through interrogation.  
  
He stared at the blood spot on his floor, and called for Sephiroth. 


	8. 103

AN: Okay, gonna post what I have because I have it. Sorry for the suck.

Disclaimer: I wish I owned them, but I do not.

**Let me count the words**

**  
**  


Sora ran ink stained hands through his hair, struggling to think and waiting for the next bomb to drop.  
  
He hadn't slept in two days.   
  
The nearby towns had been evacuated, the people coming to stay in the castle until the land was safe again.  
  
By their estimates Sephiroth had wiped out a third of the enemy force in his first, brutal attack. Tactics had changed after that. Their foes had disappeared into the mist, reappearing briefly and randomly to ransack the out lying villages. What they didn't eat or steal they killed.  
  
And even the great Sephiroth couldn't fight what wasn't there.  
  



	9. 116

  
Disclaimer: I wish I owned them, but I do not.  
  


**Let me count the words**  


  


He ordered units into the larger town and had the smaller ones emptied of people and livestock. Yuffie was in Magnolia, Cloud in Foxtail, Tidus was stationed closer to home, defending Zinnia. Riku was in Sagebrush, Sephiroth Morning-glory.  
  
He prayed it was enough.  
  
Squall was in Peony and hating it. Aerith traveled with Wakka, healing the wounded. Selphie was in charge at Sunflower.  
  
In desperation he sent Cain to Hawthorn, because he needed people he could trust. Cid was mailed a badge and a squad to command in Bitterroot, where he lived. Donald went home to report to his own king, Goofy stayed in Laurel, as a favor.  
  
He prayed it was enough.  
  
But it wasn't.  
  



	10. 106

AN: Contains vaugeness, but you've already noticed that -;;

Disclaimer: I wish I owned them, but I do not.

**Let me count the words**  


  


Foxtail burned. Cloud and his men killed two dozen enemy soldiers, but the town itself was lost. Squall was wounded in half hearted attack, but no one died.  
  
Hawthorn was overlooked, but Sunflower wasn't and Selphie came home unconscious and bleeding. No aggressor who entered Sagebrush or Morning-glory left under their own power.  
  
The one prisoner Riku took reached the castle just as Sora was leaving to join the battle himself, keyblade in hand.  
  
The man spat and growled and was missing one of his legs.  
  
They burned him until he said how his forces vanished into nothing.  
  
Sora was sick right there in the dungeon.  
  



	11. 76

  
Disclaimer: I wish I owned them, but I do not.  
  


**Let me count the words**

**  
**  


All the children not already in the castle were moved to Morning-glory. Sephiroth had his legs glomped 203 times the first day, twice that the next. Those between the ages of sixteen and thirty-one were moved to outlying cities and taught to fight with enemy sabers and swords belonging to the army's fallen.  
  
Riku came back long enough to give Sora his dark keyblade and cast a spell on his sword. He didn't talk about love.  
  



	12. 66

  
Disclaimer: I wish I owned them, but I do not.  
  


**Let me count the words  
**

  


Three children were kidnapped from Morning-glory. Seven abductions were prevented. Thirty-four enemy soldiers were killed. One child was recovered after less than a day.  
  
The bodies of the other two were found within the week.  
  
Sora patrolled the castle courtyard every night and no children disappeared.  
  
He was afraid to leave and afraid to stay. Unsure where he was needed most.  
  
So he patrolled the courtyard.  
  



	13. 82

AN: Fear the terrible lack of detail and absurd battle statistics.

Disclaimer: If I owned them I would only butcher them more, so its a good thing I don't.

**Let me count the words**

  
  


It seemed wrong that it ended at midday. The messenger came to his rooms as he slept, his footsteps on the stone waking Sora from his light doze.  
  
This one wasn't bleeding. Wasn't dying on his floor.  
  
"Report."  
  
"The enemy has retreated, your Highness. Their leader appears to have been killed."  
  
Sora closed his eyes. "What are our casualties?"  
  
"74 men confirmed dead. Another 80 unaccounted for. Lord Sephiroth injured. And Lord Riku missing."  
  
Sora nodded to himself, swallowing convulsively. "What happened?"  
  



	14. 123

****  
Disclaimer: If I owned them I would only butcher them more, so its a good thing I don't.  
  


**Let me count the words**

  
  


A little less than half of them had attacked Morning-glory, fully visible, three hours past dawn, hoping, it seemed, to grab as many children as possible and run. They had no doubt believed Sephiroth would be hampered by the civilians clogging the streets. They were right. Only seventy percent of their force died.  
  
An hour or so before the attack on Morning-glory Riku lead his own troops into the enemy camp. A brave and daring scout had seen smoke from the cook fires the night before, and it was just too good an opportunity for the silver haired warrior to pass up. Those retreating from the failed Morning-glory campaign ran right into Riku's force occupying their abandoned camp. The destruction was massive.  
  



	15. 125

AN: I reread this and wince at the painful abrubtness   
  
Disclaimer: If I owned them I would only butcher them more, so its a good thing I don't.  
  


**Let me count the words**

**  
**  


Sora sat at his desk, his hands ink stained and shaking. He couldn't think. He would try to focus, and just end up mumbling to himself. "Does this mean its over? Is it all over?"  
  
"Yea, its over." Warm arms wrapped around him.  
  
"I-Over? Is it? Is it all…is it…all…Dead? Is anything…" Tears slid down his cheeks, "is anything left?"  
  
He was turned around, and pulled close. "Everything is fine, just fine. Its over."  
  
Sora tried to stand up. "I have to write letters. There are-There are families…"  
  
"Don't worry, that's what Kairi's for. She'll handle it."  
  
The king pressed his face against the cold plates of Riku's armor and cried.  
  
"I suppose, all in all, this is the best time for your break down."  
  



	16. 110

AN: Its over! Joyful singing commence.   
  
Disclaimer: Still not mine.  
  


**Let me count the words**

**  
**  


"You know. I think. I think maybe I might love you, too."  
  
"Whaat?"  
  
"What do you mean what? You said, you said last month!"  
  
"I know." A smirk, "not really the kind of response you want to a love declaration, is it?"  
Sora sulked.   
  
"So, does this mean I can kiss you?" And a second later he was.  
  
Sora was about to break away and snap over the futility of asking something if you obviously don't care about the answer when he heard a surprised squawk followed by a painful sounding thud.  
  
Sora and Riku turned to find Kairi staring up at them incredulously from the stone floor.  
  
Sora grinned.  
  



End file.
